oharaville

I downloaded a browser and had something of an epiphany.

Flock is a browser whose sole purpose, it seems, is to keep the user updated with his or her various web2.0 social networks (facebook, flickr, twitter, etc.)  I’ll admit, it’s daunting to see a constantly updating stream of human interaction on the left sidebar of my browser.  I’m beginning to realize that, at 29 years old, I am on the trailing edge of technological innovation and am far less a native to social networking than kids still in high school.  So it took this browser to wake me up to a big turn in the way people communicate: meet-ups can organize in literally hours or less through a network of computers and mobile devices, people can broadcast up-to-the-moment updates of their thoughts, feelings and happenings to friends and total strangers alike, and reactions to these individual and communal happenings can be executed and observed in real time.

Some examples I’ve seen of how this works in real life:

From GodGirl:

A week ago, when I signed on to my Facebook account and saw that Mark’s best friend had written “I’m sad that Mark died in Iraq today” as his “update” message, I hoped it was a joke. Mark and his best friends — two guys named Dave who were his college-mates and, more recently, his neighbors in Laguna Beach, Calif. — have a wicked sense of humor.

When the other Dave sent me an e-mail saying “it’s no joke,” my heart gained 50 pounds and sank in my chest, where it remains, a painful boulder.

How was it possible that one of the most alive people I’ve ever known was gone?

From a friend’s facebook status update:

just wrecked my car and i’m quite tired and sore.

From a friend of a friend who was recently working on a prayer labryinth:
           
            Labyrinth tonight. Come help me move rocks.

Then there are other stories of friends and peers who have recently lit up my phone with text messages requesting prayer, sending blessings, or sharing news.

The question I’ve been pondering is, with the rise of this kind of instant relational networking, how long can church communities keep leaning on routine weekly gatherings that people have attended for centuries out of a sense of duty or habit?  While there is certainly still a place for regularly scheduled programming, it’s simply not how emerging culture seems to be working: we watch TV on demand via TiVo or streaming internet feeds, we listen to customized music playlists instead of pre-programmed CD’s, we arrange gatherings via social networking websites and text messaging instead of by the regularity of the weekly calendar.  Where’s the balance going to strike (and when)?  And in what way does a community lose out by ignoring this trend (or not)?

Tags: web2.0, networking, gatherings